Battle At Rivers Bridge

On February 2 ~ 3, 1865, as Gen. W.T. Sherman's

Federals advanced toward Columbia, units of

Gen. F.P. Blair's XVII Corps attempted to cross

the Salkehatchie River at Rivers Bridge. The

Confederate defenders there, in Gen. Lafayette

McLaws's division of the Dept. of S.C., Ga., and

Fla., delayed the Federals for almost two days.

Each side lost about 100 men killed, wounded,

or captured.

Rivers Bridge Memorials

In 1876 local men reburied the Confederate

dead in a mass grave a mile from the earthworks

and formed the Rivers Bridge Confederate

Memorial Association. Their annual services

commemorate the battle and Southern dead.

The Association preserved the battlefield and

deeded 285 acres to the state in 1945 as Rivers

Bridge State Park, now Rivers Bridge State

Historic Site.

Marker is on Confederate Highway (State Highway 641) near State Park Road (County Route 5-8), on the right when traveling west.

Courtesy hmdb.org

Credits and Sources: